The Proms

My personal favourite out of all Romantic violin concertos is the one by Sibelius. It is just glorious from beginning to end. The Bruch is ok-ay. I think it's an easy work to pull off, interpretatively speaking. As long as you play all the right notes in the right order then you can't really go wrong. But after Sibelius the order would go: Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky.

:)
 
My big issue with Beethoven is that he always wrote about himself. All the time. Everything, every note is about himself. I went through a period of avidly listening to Beethoven all the time. It seemed so free after listening to nothing but Mozart for several years, so impetuous and passionate. Then I went through the 19th century as a whole, ending up with Mahler and Strauss and Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, and revisited Mozart with a new appreciation of just what an absolute genius he was. I now prefer Schubert to Beethoven, but still rank things like the Appassionata sonata, the Hammerklavier sonata, the last three sonatas, the last quartets, the Missa Solemnis, the 4th piano concerto, the violin concerto and the Ninth symphony as some of the greatest achievements in Western music. 'Fidelio' I just can't listen to as it bores me to death.
 
I did the same I'm afraid, it's too easy watching at home, you can switch off if it's heavy going. In the Concert Hall you have to stay.
 
"Land of pain and poverty if your poor or ill"
"Who will help those people? The Tories never will"
"Bomb Bomb bomb...."

"Deeper deeper deeper shall the cuts be made"
"Poorer poorer poorer wages shall be paid" (unless your a banker!!)
"Bomb Bomb bomb...."
 
The singers, in general, were better than last year's concert in a similar vein. Poor old Sir Thomas Allen, then appeared to be a bit past it. However as I've already said, KK was mis-cast in 'Climb Every Mountain'.
 
ha, actually went to a prom with Fidelio by Glyndebourne opera a few years ago; the 1st half was excruciating. It's funny you should mention Schubert as he had a major inferiority complex vis a vis Beethoven; he is very underplayed at the proms. I've sort of discovered Haydn from Mozart; particularly like his London and Paris symphonies and I loved the Haydn day on Radio 3 last year which brings me to not knowing that there was a full day of Bach at the proms today. I was sure the evening prom would be the Brandenburg Concertos but obviously not. Did catch the organ recital on R3 at least.

Anyway, Bach arrangements live on BBC2 in a few minutes..
 
The problem with Schubert at the Proms is that, IMO, his best work is in the genres of solo piano, lieder and chamber music.

As much as I love Mozart, I just cannot get into Haydn at all and it annoys me when people think they're indistinguishable. IMO the differences between the two are massive. I can never find the wow factor in Haydn, that moment of melody, orchestration or surprise, or sheer beauty, that takes your breath away.

Anyway, I watched the first bit of the Bach concert, and got as far as the end of the Toccata and Fugue in D minor before I went and did something else. I wish they'd shown Gardiner conducting the Brandenburg concertos from earlier in the day.
 
Oh my word! I'm just home, and I LOVED it! :D

I didn't make it to the Brandenburgs (I really regret that now) but I had the organ thing, and then the orchestral prom in the evening. I had fabulous seats really close to the orchestra. The organ thing was ok (I loved the building and the organ, but it wasn't the most visual of concerts, and there was a weird radio interview in the middle where the organist was doing German accents and making jokes about Bach being a pilot...) but then the evening one just blew me away with how loud and vibrant and alive it was. I was really close, I could read the sheet music on the violins' stanRAB (or I could, if I could read sheet music) and see them sweating (the violinists have amazing arm muscles!) My favourite bits were the very first piece (for some reason the opening bars made me burst into tears), the Walton at the end of the first half, and the Firsova piece. and the Passacaglia at the very end. And I loved the conductor. And the hall is amazing.

I Sky+d it too, I'm just going to watch it again.
 
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